CD155 - Park Royal Streetspace and E-van projects

Park Royal is London's largest industrial estate. It accommodates a wide range of businesses from small start-ups to large multi-national brands which operate across a range of sectors.

OPDC's Industrial Regeneration Programme seeks to address the industrial estate's most pressing issues and capitalise on opportunities over the next ten years. It has been developed in consultation with businesses and stakeholders and through work that forms the Park Royal evidence base.

The programme is structured around four themes:

Innovation - Setting the benchmark for the future of industry in London

• Clean Growth
• Energy Infrastructure
• 5G Testbeds
• Digital Connectivity

Infrastructure - Building capacity to support growth and creating a safer, healthier environment

• Transport

Business and People - Supporting businesses, employees and residents to thrive

• Employment and Skills
• Business Engagement

Place - Creating a more desirable place to live, work and visit

• Placemaking
• Promotion
• Resilient communities

Both the Streetspace project and the e-van sharing scheme support the objectives of the Industrial Regeneration Programme's Infrastructure theme which are to:

• reduce congestion
• increase productivity
• encourage a shift to more sustainable modes of transport
• improve air quality and move towards a low carbon transport network

Streetspace

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mayor of London launched a new Streetspace fund to fast-track the transformation of London's streets, giving space to new cycle lanes and reducing motor traffic. Streetspace is funded by Transport for London (TfL) through emergency funding received from the Department for Transport (DfT).

Streetspace funding is only available to London boroughs. The London Borough of Ealing (working with OPDC) submitted a bid for £142,000 for cycling enhancements along the Ealing roads of the Big X in Park Royal - Coronation Road, Park Royal Road and Acton Lane.

The enhancements are intended to support Park Royal employees to travel to work by bike rather than car. Many Park Royal employees live locally and are within cyclable commuter distances. The improvements will also support visitors to Park Royal to travel by bike and those making trips within the estate.

In December 2020, TfL awarded £14,200 from the Streetspace fund to LB Ealing to progress the initial design work of the Big X cycling enhancements. OPDC has led on the project management of the initial designs as the planning and delivery authority for Park Royal. LB Ealing grant funded OPDC £10,000 in January 2021 for this purpose, and OPDC appointed Mott MacDonald to carry out the design work. Approval was granted through DAR236.

The initial designs were submitted to TfL at the end of January 2021. If TfL approve these initial designs, they will release the remaining funding requested in the Streetspace application to LB Ealing to progress and deliver the cycling improvements. In this event, we would like to contribute £65,000 (via grant funding to LB Ealing) to enhance delivery. If TfL do not release the remaining funds, then the grant would be used to deliver a scaled-back scheme.

E-van Share Scheme

West London Business (WLB), the financial and administrative umbrella organisation for Park Royal Business Group (PRBG), has received a grant fund from LB Hammersmith and Fulham to establish an electric van share scheme for businesses located in the Old Oak area of the industrial estate, to reduce freight impacts and tackle air pollution.

Air quality in Park Royal currently exceeds legal NO2 limits, impacting negatively on sites such as Central Middlesex Hospital and the Kindervine Day Nursery. The Ultra Low Emission Zone will be expanded to cover Park Royal in October 2021, yet only 42 per cent of Park Royals' fleet is expected to be compliant with ULEZ emissions standards by then.

Given the large proportion of vans in Park Royal associated with over 1,700 businesses located in the estate, and the lack of second-hand ULEZ compliant vans on the UK market (only van models from 2016 comply with ULEZ standards), many businesses may struggle to meet the new emissions standards in time. Introducing an e-van share for use in Park Royal will help businesses prepare for the introduction of the ULEZ expansion later this year and is a key step to tackling air pollution and transitioning Park Royal to zero emissions.

The e-van share project seeks to reduce emissions from vehicles by enabling businesses to switch from diesel van trips to electric van trips. A similar e-van share project was recently launched by the Brixton BID in December 2019. Within the first six weeks of operation, the project has 15 businesses registered with 10 regular users that had driven 1,000 electric miles. With over 1,700 businesses located in Park Royal, the project aims to achieve significant miles driven by clean and green energy instead of fossil fuels, resulting in substantial reductions in emissions and improvements in air quality.

The e-van share project will be catalyst for behaviour change that supports more sustainable travel practices. By moving away from van ownership, businesses will become more aware of their travel behaviour, resulting in fewer van trips and shifting to off-peak times of the day when the e-van share car is available.

A reduction in van ownership and fewer vehicles parked on Park Royal streets will also allow for the reprioritisation of space to walking and cycling in line with the Mayor's Healthy Streets Approach.

We would like to award a grant of up to £25,000 to WLB to locate a second electric van in the estate. The current scheme funded by LB Hammersmith and Fulham will only serve the c.300 businesses in the Old Oak area. Our funding will expand the scheme to c. 1,300 businesses in the LB Brent and LB Ealing areas of the industrial estate. Both e-vans will be supplied and managed by Zipcar.

Under the scheme, Park Royal businesses will receive free membership and use of the e-van for a minimum of 30 days. The scheme will gradually introduce a fee only the value of the e-van share has been proven to businesses and membership sufficiently expanded. The grant will be used to cover the initial set up costs of establishing the e-van sharing scheme as well as operational costs until the scheme becomes financially self-sufficient. The grant will also cover the cost of EV charging infrastructure required for the e-van.

Zipcar will be responsible for providing the e-vans, managing the scheme (including bookings, insurance costs etc.) and providing data on usage.

The proposal and how it will be delivered

Streetspace

LB Ealing will be responsible for delivering the cycling improvements. We will work with LB Ealing to draft and agree a grant agreement which will provide detailed information on objectives, targets and conditions, it will also ensure that OPDC's grant is ring-fenced for improvements to the transport network in Park Royal.

E-van sharing scheme

WLB will have overall responsibility for the e-van share scheme and will hold the contractual relationship with Zipcar, which will provide the e-van and manage the sharing scheme. We will work with WLB to draft and agree a grant agreement which will provide detailed information on objectives, targets and conditions, it will also ensure that OPDC's grant is ring-fenced for the e-van scheme.

OPDC will support WLB on the set up of the e-van sharing scheme, working with LB Ealing and LB Brent officers to identify a suitable location, the Traffic Management Order (TMO) process to allocate the parking space (if located on public highway), and installation of an electric vehicle (EV) charging point. WLB/PRBG will lead on engagement to grow members and OPDC will promote the e-van sharing scheme through social media and other communication channels.

Streetspace Project

The aim of the Streetspace Project is to give space to new cycle lanes and reduce motor traffic. This will make cycling alongside HGVs in the industrial estate safer, it will also encourage a shift to more sustainable modes of transport such as cycling, walking and public transport, as well as improving air quality. The project aligns with OPDC's overarching objective to more towards a low carbon transport network and by grant funding this project we will help improve cycling infrastructure for businesses, employees, residents and visitors to Park Royal.

E-van Sharing Scheme

The E-van Sharing Scheme will help businesses prepare for the introduction of the ULEZ in October 2021 as well as improving air quality by reducing vehicle emissions. Previous schemes have also encouraged behaviour change that supports more efficient and sustainable travel practices, and reduced vehicle ownership allowing for the reprioritisation of parking space to walking and cycling. The scheme aligns with OPDC's overarching objective to move towards a low carbon transport network and our grant funding will expand the scheme to the c. 1,300 businesses in the LB Brent and LB Ealing areas of the industrial estate.

Strategic fit

Both the Streetspace Project and the E-van Sharing Scheme support the objectives of the Industrial Regeneration Programme's Infrastructure theme which are to:

• reduce congestion
• increase productivity
• encourage a shift to more sustainable modes of transport
• improve air quality and move towards a low carbon transport network

They also support the aims of the Mayor and TfL's Healthy Street Approach which are to improve air quality, reduce congestion and help make London's diverse communities greener, healthier and more attractive places to live, work, play and do business.

OPDC must have 'due regard' to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to the need to advance quality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The Streetspace project is mainly focused on delivering improvements to the cycling network. Cycling offers a low-cost, healthy way to travel that provides a range of positive benefits to all. By designing improvements to cycling conditions, more Park Royal employees will be able to cycle to work, increasing access to employment opportunities in an area that is currently underserved by public transport. Any design solutions will be developed in a way that ensures all can benefit i.e.. cycle widths accessible to wheelchair-adapted bicycles for those with mobility issues. Equality considerations will form part of the consultation's brief to ensure proposals consider all protected groups.

There are no particular equalities implications directly arising from the e-van sharing scheme. The scheme will be managed by Zipcar who will be required to ensure that the services they deliver to businesses have 'due regard' to the need to (i) eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; (ii) advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and (iii) foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. Furthermore, Zipcar have committed to corporate objectives around embracing equality and championing diversity.

Project governance and assurance

Streetspace and E-Van sharing scheme

The Senior Responsible Owner for both projects is the Development Director and the Lead Officer is the Principal Transport Officer.

Following this approval, we will work with LB Ealing and WLB to draft and agree grant agreements which will include objectives, targets, timelines, terms and conditions.

The Principal Transport Officer will meet LB Ealing, WLB and the PRBG Manager regularly to monitor progress and ensure the conditions set out in the grant agreement are being met

Risks and issues

The risk register is attached as Appendix A.

Other considerations

There are no other consideration that need to be considered in the taking of this decision.

Conflicts of interest

No one involved in the preparation or clearance of this Form, or its substantive proposal, has any conflict of interest.

Expenditure of £80,000 will be funded from the Transport Strategies section of the Park Royal budget, which sits within the Industrial Regeneration directorate, and £10,000 from the Planning directorate 2020/21 budget.

The report above indicates that the decision requested of the Chief Executive falls within OPDC's objective of securing the regeneration of the Old Oak and Park Royal area and its powers to do anything it consider appropriate for the purpose of its objects or purposes incidental to those purposes, as set out in the Localism Act 2011.

In taking the decisions requested, the Chief Executive must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010 and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Chief Executive should have particular regard to section 6 (above of this report).

Paragraphs 1.9 and 1.16 above indicates that the contribution of funding to LB Ealing and West London Business will amount to the provision of grant funding and not payment for services. Officers must ensure that an appropriate funding agreement is put in place between and executed by the GLA and to LB Ealing and West London Business respectively before any commitment to fund is made.

Appendix A: Risk Register

56980927